Romie Care Services Ltd

Updated 24 December 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience also spoke with people using the service and their relatives. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke on the telephone with two people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, care co-ordinators and care staff. Romie Care is run as franchised branch of Surecare and we also spoke to the business development manager from Surecare.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at records around the management of the service such as accidents and incidents, complaints and audits.

We visited the office location on 20 November 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We made telephone calls to people who used the service and their relatives on 20 and 22 and November 2019. We made telephone calls to staff on 22 November 2019.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 24 December 2019

About the service

Romie Care Services Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care for people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection 76 people were receiving personal care from the service. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe and were supported by staff who understood the risks associated with their care. There were enough staff to meet people's needs safely. We saw the providers recruitment process included checks to determine whether staff were safe to work with people. Staff had the time to ensure people's needs were met safely, and in a way that suited them. Where people were supported with medicines this had been provided safely.

Staff were trained and very well supported to meet people's assessed needs. The staff we spoke with felt they had effective knowledge and skills to support people. People had been supported to maintain their health and wellbeing and had access to healthcare services when required.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People had their dignity and privacy respected and their independence promoted. Staff were respectful when they spoke with, and about, people. Support was person-centred. People were involved in their care plan reviews and were supported to make choices about their care. Where complaints had been received these were responded to in a timely manner.

Audits and quality checks were undertaken on a regular basis to monitor and improve standards. Monitoring of call times had been improved and the provider was meeting their condition of registration to send us monthly reports on the outcome of their audits.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (8 June 2019).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.